Horton-Salway Mary
Psychology, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
Br J Soc Psychol. 2007 Dec;46(Pt 4):895-914. doi: 10.1348/014466607X173456.
This paper examines the discourse of morality surrounding 'ME' as a contested illness, looking at how GPs and ME group members differentiate between the category of 'genuine ME sufferer' and the 'bandwagon'. 'Jumping on the bandwagon' is a metaphor commonly used to describe the activity of 'following the crowd' in order to gain an advantage. This discursive analysis shows how 'bandwagon' categories are constructed in contrast to the category of genuine sufferer. People who jump on the bandwagon are accused of matching their symptoms to media stereotypes, adopting trendy illnesses ('fads'), or using 'tickets' to avoid facing up to psychological illnesses. Both GPs and ME group members construct a differential moral ordering of physical and psychological illness categories, where the latter assumes a lesser status. The paper concludes that against a background of medical uncertainty and controversy, the 'bandwagon' and other derogatory labels function as contrast categories that work to establish the existence of 'ME' as a genuine illness.
本文探讨了围绕“肌痛性脑脊髓炎（ME）”这一存在争议的疾病的道德话语，研究了全科医生和ME群体成员如何区分“真正的ME患者”和“跟风者”这两个类别。“跟风”是一个常用的比喻，用来描述“随大流”以获取优势的行为。这项话语分析展示了“跟风者”类别是如何与真正患者的类别形成对比构建起来的。跟风者被指责将自己的症状与媒体刻板印象相匹配、患上时髦的疾病（“时尚病”）或使用“借口”来逃避面对心理疾病。全科医生和ME群体成员都构建了身体疾病和心理疾病类别的不同道德排序，其中心理疾病的地位较低。本文的结论是，在医学不确定性和争议的背景下，“跟风者”及其他贬损性标签起到了对比类别的作用，有助于确立“ME”作为一种真正疾病的存在。
